– Kyle Kuzma
With a lot of people out for the Lakers tonight, this could be the Kyle Kuzma show against the Golden State Warriors. Coming into the regular season, Kuzma will likely be one of the top weapons for the Lakers coming off the bench, but he will be a starter on Friday night.
In the preseason, we have seen a lot of Kuzma at the center position in the small ball lineups, and he has been battling despite giving up a lot of size. However, with those mismatches on the defensive end, Kuzma also gets them on the offensive end of the court in his advantage.
After two quiet games to start the preseason, Kuzma has played very well in the last three for the Lakers. In his last game against the Warriors, Kuzma arguably had his best game of the preseason, as he totaled 22 points, three rebounds, two blocks, one assist, and one steal.
Kuzma’s ability to light it up is going to be important coming off the bench for the Lakers this season, as he could really be a great weapon for them. As of now, it appears like he will be in the closing lineup with James and Ingram in the frontcourt. With the top scorers for the Lakers out, look for Kuzma to be the leading guy for the Lakers on Friday night.